The Alpilles region has lots of picturesque French villages and towns that are well worth a visit. In descending order of proximity to Mausanne, here are some of the ones that we love...

Les Baux de Provence

A fortified town perched on the rocks, with a beautiful old Castle ruins you can walk around, a great seafood restaurant that we love (La Reine Jeanne) and the famous Carrière des Lumières art gallery, where you will find an immersive exhibition where art is projected all over the walls of the enormous indoor quarry (requires booking ahead but really is incredible).

Eygalières

A pretty little village with some good restaurants and a lovely market on Friday mornings. You can also walk up the medieval castle ruins for a great view.

St.Rèmy de Provence

A lovely town with a pedestrianised town centre, boutique shopping, a proper supermarket, and great restaurants. There is a big Provençale market on Wednesday mornings, and closeby you can find the old Roman ruins of Glamis and the asylum (now a famous museum) where VanGogh chopped his ear off.

Further afield...

Arles, Avignon, Uzès, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape make wonderful half-day or day trips. Villeneuve-lès-Avignon has a great antiques market on Saturday mornings, and the beautiful seaside town of Cassis is about an hour from Mausanne - worth a visit for any serious Bouillabaise lovers!

The Alpilles are a low mountain range with beautiful landscapes that attract cyclists, hikers and golfers.

If you want to arrange a hike, bring trainers or walking boots, and use AllTrails or Komoot for popular routes. Our favourite is the Caisse de Jean Jean, up by Mas de Gros Pin.

For cycling trips, you can rent bikes and e-bikes at HD BIKE in Mausanne-les-Alpilles (102 Av. de la Vall. des Baux, 13520). We warn that the region is very steep in places, and unless you are a fitness-fiend, you should probably opt for an e-bike!

There are two lovely golf courses in the area: Golf de Manville at the Domaine de Manville Hotel in Les Baux, and Golf de Servanes in Mouriès. Booking ahead is required, and renting clubs is for the day is available at both.

For those renting houses, you should find most of what you need in Mausanne - Le Jardin des Alpilles is a lovely food shop and there is a great fishmonger, butcher, baker, candlestick maker etc. all along the Avenue de la Vallée des Baux. For big supermarket shops, we go to the Intermarché in St Rèmy.

In terms of restaurants, there is lots to choose from in Mausanne. Some of our favourites are Aux Ateliers Chez Franck et Flo, Le Bistrot Saint Roch, Ou Ravi Provenceau, Au Resto Les Filles and Pizza Brun.

It is also worth driving to the neighbouring villages if you are looking for a lovely meal. In Paradou, we would recommend Le Café Castillon and the famous Le Bistro du Paradou; In Eygaliéres - Restaurant Paulette and Bistrot Quasi; In Les Baux - La Reine Jeanne and Bistrot de l'Aupiho; in Saint Rèmy - Restaurant Edú and La Maison du Bœuf; in Fontvieille - La Table d'Estoublon and Le Relais de Castelet.

For wine lovers, our favourite wine shop is Nicholas (in Mausanne) and there are lots of vineyards all over the place with caves you can visit to try and buy their wines.